I use aftermarket ink (bought in bulk) for my daily-use Canon office inkjet printer, but have stayed with official Epson ink for the C80 printer that I use for labels, photographs, and such. Of course in this case, the C80 uses pigment inks, which are probably very difficult to replicate by the aftermarket ink vendors.

Do a Google search on Wilhelm Imaging. They are a firm that specializes in ink testing. The conclusions from their reports are that aftermarket inks are probably not going to ruin your printer, but the color gamut will be crap and they will fade very quickly. They say the best bet for permanence is to use a vendor's official ink AND that vendor's official paper. Something about the paper that "fixes" the ink and it won't fade for many years.

But that leaves the issue of printing on DVD blanks. Just what is that white surface? Paper? If so, what kind of paper? My conclusion is that I'll stick (pun) with my labels until this whole thing gets sorted out...

craftech, thank you for posting the site, its nice to have good alternate ink supplier.

But that leaves the issue of printing on DVD blanks. Just what is that white surface? ...

It is actually a clay based material.

Silk screen ink such as Sericol's Seridisk IJR line can be printed
on the top so ink jet printers can be used to print serial numbers or full
graphics.

http://www.sericol.com/USApi/UV/Seridisc%20IJR.pdf

Hey Randy,

What is the manufacturer of the compatible cartridges you bought? I bought a similar set from meritline; the cartridges say G & G Ink Cartridge on them.

I had a thread posted here titled ' Reviews on the Epson R-200 DVD/CD printer and I copied this from there. It was just after my last post about "Krylon". :

No one in this thread has mentioned whether the r200 inkjet cartridges have a chip on them as most Epson printers now have. If they do have a chip--which prevents one from using cheaper cartridges, there is a device out on the market that re-sets the chip on a used cartridge, making the printer think its a new cartridge. I've saved countless dollars using this re-setter. Then I refil my used cartridge using a black/color set which sells for $24.95 and from which you cana get about 5 or six fillings. I got my chip re-setter from an outfit in Russia. They run about $15-$18. Put "Epson chip re-setter" in your search engine.
Burt

It was I who posted the thing about chip-setters. I feel I must ad that you cannot use old cartridges indefinately. I get about four usages from each cartridge. Be sure to put a piece of tape over the nozzle when you change the ink. And cover up the hole on top where you filled it. Screw Epson.
Burt

John,

Try www.blankmedia.ca
Six pack for 45 dollars Canadian.